As you read the poem, think about how it differs from the passage, on the previous page.
Bats
A bat is born Naked and blind and pale. His mother makes a pocket of her tail And catches him. He clings to her long fur By his thumbs and toes and teeth. And then the mother dances through the night Doubling and looping, soaring, somersaulting— Her baby hangs on underneath. All night, in happiness, she hunts and flies. Her high sharp cries Like shining needlepoints of sound Go out into the night and, echoing back, Tell her what they have touched. She hears how far it is, how big it is, Which way it’s going: She lives by hearing. ... Her baby drinks the milk she makes him In moonlight or starlight, in mid-air. Their single shadow, printed on the moon Or fluttering across the stars, Whirls on all night; at daybreak The tired mother flaps home to her rafter . The others all are there. They hang themselves up by their toes. ... All the bright day, as the mother sleeps,
5
Lively verbs
Alliteration
10
15
20
25
She folds her wings about her sleeping child. by Randall Jarrell
Glossary rafter a sloping piece of wood that supports a roof
1 Which word best describes the new-born bat in the poem? a) curious c) independent b) helpless d) exhausted
• Ask students to identify the lines in the poem which convey the same information as the expository text. ( Lines 10–16 tell us about how the bat uses echoes. Lines 24–25 tells us that they sleep upside down during the day. ) What was the purpose of each piece of writing? How did each writer want the reader to feel? • Students can write about the poem in one of their weekly book reports.
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